Pathways to Politics Program for Women aims to increase female representation in Australian politics

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Australia still lags behind dozens of countries when it comes to female representation in federal parliament. A national program is hoping to change that by equipping more women with the skills and confidence to run for office.

Transcript

00:00 Sally Shepard has always been interested in entering politics, but she knows the road

00:07 to get there can be challenging.

00:09 I would love to see more women represented and proving that it is a space for us and

00:16 we all can do it if we want to.

00:18 In the last two decades, the number of women in federal parliament has risen from just

00:23 25% to almost 40%. But despite this progress, the way some female politicians have been

00:29 treated is seen as a deterrent.

00:32 She needs a mirror.

00:33 It's the stigma. I grew up in a time watching our first female prime minister get absolutely

00:38 obliterated in our media. And that's scary, but I've learnt now how to move through that.

00:43 I think it's made some of us question why we're even here. And the only reason you stay

00:48 is because you want to change that culture.

00:51 Australia is ranked 32nd in the world for female representation in parliament. It's

00:55 still well behind countries like Iceland, New Zealand and Rwanda at number one. A team

01:02 of academics are now leading a program aiming to improve Australia's position.

01:07 Having more diversity in politics is important because we need our representatives to reflect

01:13 the community.

01:14 South Australia is Australia's only state or territory which is yet to be led by a female.

01:20 While men outnumber women in the lower house, there's now equal representation in the

01:25 Legislative Council.

01:27 It's not just about women in seats. It's about women in leadership positions. We don't want

01:32 to flood the back benches with women. We want women on the front benches where the decisions

01:37 are actually being made.

01:39 We deserve to be up there and I think in the next ten years or so you'll see a big change

01:43 in both houses with more female representation.

01:46 Targets the program hopes to achieve when it's rolled out nationally next year.

01:51 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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